DAILY HOMILIES #pride

This parable teaches us to repent of vices such as using others to measure one’s progress in life, making others look small and unimportant, speaking ill of others, and praying against them. Repent from the philosophy of “I beta pass my neighbour.” Compare yourself only with who you were yesterday. Seek to improve, not to impress.

The best choice in this season of Lent is self-denial. We are called to fast (deny ourselves from pleasures), pray (deny ourselves from pride), and give alms (deny ourselves from greed and selfishness). We live in a world where no one wants to hear about self-denial.

God inspired both creation accounts; they are not journalists’ reports of creation. Far from revealing the details of “how” the world was made, they both seek to tell “why” the world was created. Some questions answered by the second creation account include: “Why are males sexually attracted to females? Why does marriage exist in all human societies? Why does the human family exist? Why do parents have such strong love for their children?”

An African proverb says that if a child washes his hands very well, he will be invited to sit at the table and eat with the elders. In other words, if we are humble, regardless of our size and status, we will be granted access to high places. Humility will put people under us, like the child leading the lion, the leopard, the wolf, and the lamb.

In sending out the seventy, they must have wondered how they would survive without a bag, a wallet, an extra tunic, or even some loaves of bread. Today, they return with joy. The experience taught them about God’s providence. If God gives you an assignment, trust He will provide everything you need. You will have dark moments but, ultimately, realize that God knew exactly what He was doing. “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.” (Psalm 125:1)

For the Corinthians, their problem was taking sides between Paul and Apollos, similar to when we began to form camps around our spiritual leaders. Paul was unhappy with them because they failed to see that Paul and Apollos were mere instruments while God was the real Chief Shepherd who made the growth happen.

Is my desire for God greater than my desire for material riches and luxuries? Haven’t I made a god of my possessions? In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus says: “Everyone who has left their houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29). Entering Heaven will be hard for anyone who worships their wealth.

Why did this woman refuse to give up? What made her pass Jesus’ test? This is a woman who has suffered in the past. She knew that pride wouldn’t get you anything. Learn to be humble. Don’t interpret everything as an insult; you never can tell if the so-called insult is just a test. Maturity begins when you start seeing insult as education. No matter how highly placed you think we are, there will always be someone with something you lack. Never look down on anyone.

As ministers of God, we must preach with the examples of our lives. Until we cease to be beneficiaries of corruption like Amaziah, the priest, we cannot speak truth to power. Until we practice the detachment Jesus recommends, no one will take our sermons or communiques seriously. As St. Paul says in today’s second reading, we have been called “to be holy and spotless”, not necessarily to make it big in life. Let us repent from worshipping money, whether as ministers or laity. Let us return to practising the Gospel values and apply poverty of spirit.

The worst kind of enemy is the one who comes to you as a friend. It is easier to avoid a known enemy than to hide from an enemy who pretends to love you. In today’s Gospel passage, the Pharisees and Herodians came to Jesus pretending to be his friends. They began by praising him: “Teacher, we know that you are true, and care for no man; for you do not regard the position of men, but truly teach the way of God.” (Mark 12:14).

God does not reject the prayer of the humble and contrite, who can honestly beat his chest and say, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Don’t be ashamed to pray right after you realise you have sinned. Your heart may condemn you, but God will never condemn you.

Don’t be carried away by power, congratulatory messages, or excessive workload in your new office; dedicate the first day (or days) to prayer. Jesus applied this principle at the start of his ministry; he spent forty days praying and fasting alone in a desert.